F1 penalties explained: types, offences, penalty points and who decides

What penalties are there in F1?

For the race and the sprint, the regulations list ten penalties. They are 5 seconds, 10 seconds, a drive-through, a 10-second stop-and-go, a time penalty, a driver reprimand, a team reprimand, grid places, disqualification and suspension from the next event. In practice and qualifying there are two: the stewards can delete a lap time or drop the driver down the starting grid. Grid places lost for an incident in practice or qualifying are served in the race, and for one in Sprint Qualifying, in the sprint.

Who decides F1 penalties?

In Formula 1, penalties are imposed by the stewards, the judges at each event. For every event the FIA appoints three or four stewards and makes one of them chair. One more steward is nominated by the national sporting authority of the country hosting the event.

The Race Director can refer an incident to the stewards: they report something that happened on track or a suspected breach of the rules. The stewards also look into incidents they have noticed themselves. It is up to them whether to investigate and whether to penalise a driver, and they can use any video or electronic means to help them.

The key condition: a driver is penalised only if it is clear to the stewards that they were wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. All teams are told about an investigation. If the message appears no later than 60 minutes after the end of the race or sprint, the drivers involved may not leave the circuit without the stewards’ consent.

In practice and qualifying, an incident is normally investigated after the session — unless the offence is completely clear straight away.

How penalties are served in the race

A 5- or 10-second penalty is served the next time the driver comes into the pit lane. The car stays in its pit stop position for the required time, and only then may the mechanics touch it, by hand or with tools. If the driver doesn’t pit again before the finish, those seconds are added to their time.

A drive-through or a stop-and-go can’t be put off. Once the team has been told of the decision, the driver may cross the line on track no more than twice — after that they must enter the pit lane.

If a drive-through or a stop-and-go is imposed in the last three laps, the driver no longer has to come in. Instead, 20 seconds are added to their time for a drive-through and 30 for a stop-and-go. Penalties imposed after the finish are also turned into seconds: 5, 10, 20 and 30 respectively.

Sometimes a penalty can’t be served: the driver retired, or was not classified at the end of the race. The stewards can then give them a grid penalty for the next race. Under the FIA guidelines, a single 5-second penalty that went unserved because of a retirement isn’t converted into grid places; if there are several penalties, they can be.

How penalties are served under the safety car and the Virtual Safety Car is explained in the safety car article.

What do drivers get penalised for?

The rules of behaviour on track are set out in the FIA code of driving conduct — Chapter IV of Appendix L to the International Sporting Code. When defending a position, a driver may change direction only once, and deliberately crowding a rival beyond the edge of the track is strictly prohibited. Leaving the track without a justifiable reason isn’t allowed either. The white lines count as part of the track, the kerbs don’t. A driver has left the track if no part of the car is still touching it. They may rejoin only when it is safe and without gaining a lasting advantage.

The FIA has collected the usual penalties for offences in its penalty guidelines for 2026. They are a reference point: the stewards judge every case on its merits and can choose a different penalty. The table covers the race and the sprint.

If the driver who caused a collision didn’t make it to the finish, the guidelines suggest grid places instead of seconds. In practice and qualifying, causing a collision or forcing someone off the track usually brings a reprimand or grid places. In qualifying, gaining an advantage by leaving the track costs the lap time and/or up to three grid places.

Penalties for flag offences are listed in the flags article, and for offences under the safety car in the safety car article. Penalties for speeding in the pit lane and unsafe releases are covered in the pit stop article. For impeding and track limits in qualifying, see the qualifying article.

Which penalties are mandatory?

The FIA guidelines call some penalties mandatory: here the stewards don’t choose, they apply the rule.

• Extra power unit elements. The first element of each type beyond the season’s allocation costs 10 grid places, and each one after that 5 more; the penalties add up. The allocations are in the engine article.
• Tyres. A driver who hasn’t used intermediate or wet-weather tyres in the race must run two different dry compounds. Breaking the rule means disqualification, or 30 seconds added if the race was suspended and not restarted. There is more in the tyres article.
• Parc fermé. If a team breaks parc fermé rules before the sprint or the race, the driver starts from the pit lane.
• Five reprimands. The fifth reprimand in a season, if at least four were for driving, costs ten grid places.

For a technical infringement on the car, the guidelines suggest disqualification from the qualifying or race results.

How do F1 penalty points work?

Penalty points go on the driver’s Super Licence, which the FIA issues and without which nobody can race in Formula 1. How drivers get one is explained in the article on becoming an F1 driver. The stewards can add points to any penalty except a reprimand or a fine. Each point expires 12 months after it was imposed.

A driver who reaches 12 points misses the next event. After the suspension, 12 points are taken off their licence.

The FIA guidelines suggest how many points to give. Causing a collision carries up to three, a collision that looks deliberate four, and ignoring a black flag five. If a number in the guidelines has an asterisk, it is a maximum, and the stewards can give anything from zero up to it. The guidelines allow more than the norm only in exceptional circumstances.

Kevin Magnussen reached 12 points in 2024. At the Italian Grand Prix, the stewards found him to blame for a collision with Pierre Gasly and gave him 10 seconds and two penalty points. That took him to 12, and Magnussen missed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Oliver Bearman drove for Haas in his place. According to Formula 1, the last driver banned from a race before him was Romain Grosjean in 2012.

What is a reprimand?

A reprimand is a penalty without penalty points, but reprimands add up. The fifth in a season, if at least four of the five were for driving, costs the driver ten grid places for the race at that same event. If the fifth reprimand is for an incident in the race, the places are lost at the next event.

A team can be reprimanded too.

Who gets fined, and for what?

Both teams and drivers can be fined, and no penalty points are added to a fine. A few examples from the FIA’s 2026 guidelines:

• breaching the requirements for a driver’s safety equipment or clothing — up to €40,000 for a first offence in 12 months, up to €50,000 for a second and up to €60,000 for a third;
• swearing or rude gestures at a press conference, in an interview or on the podium — up to €5,000, and in serious cases the amount can be doubled or tripled;
• a deliberately false declaration on the car’s self-scrutineering form — up to €100,000 for the team.

The guidelines treat team radio as a non-controlled environment: what is said there may be treated as a private conversation. The exceptions are several offences in a short time, racist or discriminatory language, and abuse of officials.

Abusing officials brings a sporting penalty. If it happens in the race or the sprint, the minimum is 5 seconds; at any other point in the event, at least three grid places at the next race.

Can a penalty be appealed?

A final decision by the stewards can be appealed to the FIA International Court of Appeal, but not every decision. Procedural and interim decisions can’t be appealed, and the Formula 1 regulations also list penalties that aren’t open to appeal. Among them:

• 5 and 10 seconds, drive-throughs, 10-second stop-and-gos, time penalties, reprimands and grid places — even if they were imposed in the last three laps or after the finish;
• grid places for extra power unit elements;
• deleted laps and grid places for incidents in practice and qualifying;
• penalty points and the suspension for reaching 12 points.

The ban covers the penalties on the regulations’ list from 5 seconds to grid places. Disqualification comes next on the same list and is not covered by the ban. What an intention to appeal a stewards’ decision looks like in practice can be seen in the story of Abu Dhabi 2021. A short overview of all the rules is in the chapter on flags and penalties.